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Ill Wind by William L. Heath

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Friends: ellenandjim, LisaLynne, SD18888

Interesting libraries: kathi, Osbaldistone

LibraryThing authors: Allen J. Hubin (AllenJHubin), Richard Montanari (RichardMontanari), Ellen Moody (ellenandjim), Patrick Rothfuss (Rothfaust), L. J. Sellers (ljsellers), Michael Simon (michaelsimon), Lisa Unger (lisaunger), William Wright (WGWright)

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bjbookman's reviews

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Member: bjbookman

Library3,270 books — see library

Reviews4 reviews — see reviews

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

Tagsmystery (1,118), literature (876), victorian literature (475), reference (275), 19thcentury (247), fiction (230), adventure (177), sf (156), fantasy (149), history (102) — see all tags

GroupsMyPeopleConnection Book Clubs, What Are You Reading Now?

Favorite authorsWilliam Harrison Ainsworth, Alexander Dumas, Aphra Behn, R. D. Blackmore, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Anne Bronte, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Fanny Burney, George C. Chesbro, Wilkie Collins, James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Maria Edgeworth, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Elizabeth Gaskell, H. Rider Haggard, Charles and Mary Lamb, Richard Laymon, Charles Robert Maturin, Robert McCammon, Joyce Porter, Alexander Pushkin, Ann Ward Radcliffe, Clara Reeve, John Ridley, Rafael Sabatini, Sir Walter Scott, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Karin Slaughter, Aleksander Solzenitsyn, Bram Stoker, R.S. Surtees, William Makepeace Thackeray, Leo Tolstoy, Nigel Tranter, Anthony Trollope, Fanny Trollope, Elaine Viets, R.D. Wingfield, Mrs. Henry Wood, Charlotte M. Yonge (Shared favorites)

About me I have been collecting books all my life. Started witn the Ace paperback Edgar Rice Burroughs series. Finished my paper route, cut the neighbors grass, went to the variety store, gave him .35, .40 cents, and took my treasures home. Still got 'em. (along with every Country Joe and the Fish album.) The kids panic when I tell them, someday this will all be yours.

Started my first job as a page for The Cleveland Public Library. Fell in love with the place. Used to take my lunch and breaks up in the stacks. Row after row of old and sometime forgotten books. It was like being in a special church. I still remember the sights, the smells and how quiet it was.
I wish now that I had gone to college to study literature but life happened and I didn't. I'm not complaining, just wish I had more formal education.
I lead two mystery book groups, one for our public library and one for an independent bookstore. I'm an aging vegan hippie who lives with my wife, two rescue dogs, and two rescue cats in a century home.
I'm running out of space to put books! If only my wife would get rid of her royal doulton collection, I could put a nice set of Sir Walter Scott in their place.
Started another book group for my local library. It's called 'Gaslight Classics". So far we read, Fanny Burney, Anne Bronte, Sir Walter, Anthony Trollope. Future reads I hope to do, Gissing, Thackeray, Orczy. If anyone has a suggestion of a book to read for either the mystery or classics groups, let me know.

About my library Love Victorian Literature, 18th century literature, all types of literature. Read alot of mysteries, and really like discovering new mystery authors.

Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Real nameBob Burke

Locationtwinsburg ohio

Emailbjbookmanmsn.com

Account typepublic, lifetime

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/bjbookman (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/bjbookman (library)

Member sinceAug 18, 2006

Comments from other LibraryThing-ers

(Leave a comment.)

Hey, Bob. Yeah, I just finished writing Austin #3. I call it BIG MOJO and it's at my agents right now for her to read. Don't have a publisher yet, but we'll find a way for you to read it soon.

posted by jgetze at 3:15 pm (EST) on May 8, 2008

Bob! I missed you at The Festival of Mystery.

posted by jgetze at 5:24 am (EST) on Apr 30, 2008

Hi,Bob,

Would you be interested in helping with the Walter Scott library project? You're evidently a Scott enthusiast - if you're interested and have time to add a few books, or to fix some of our errors, please leave a note on Sir Walter's profile.

posted by thorold at 7:02 am (EST) on Mar 3, 2008

Hi Bob again! Just visited this link where there is a good thread regarding th etranslation of the P and V translation! http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=28634#414349
posts 14 and 15 are especialy informed imho!

posted by juliette07 at 2:38 pm (EST) on Jan 27, 2008

Hi Bob, you ask about the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of War and Peace. To my mind it is wonderful and a joy to read. Well into part 3 of volume 4 I am very near the end :( I will undoubtedly re read it - it will rank among the best and most influential books I have ever read. The writing is almost lyrical in places and the philosophical reflections are excellent - in my humble opinion. I am reasonably fluent in french and so I especially enjoy the passages in french. Never fear, there are very good accessible foot notes for the french if you prefer to read English! In addition there are useful and illuminating notes along with very brief Chapter notes at the back.
I am really keen to read further Pevear and Volokhonsky translations!

I bought the Vintage Classics edition from Amazon and it was almost half the shop price. The aesthetic feel of the cover and paper have added to the pleasure of my reading. Worth every penny or should I say cent!

I have been reading it for near on a month now and have accumulated some interesting 'additional' info. If you are interested, get back and I am happy to share. eg here is a link to the NY Times reading room discussion. http://readingroom.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/volume-1/

Did you know there is a War and Peace reading group on Yahoo in addition to the group who is reading it here on LT? Comment me if you want more details. Julie

posted by juliette07 at 2:33 pm (EST) on Jan 27, 2008

Oddly, I've read Sir Charles Grandison, but have never been able to finish Pamela. It just totally bogs down for me. One day!

posted by velvetflamingo at 12:02 pm (EST) on Jan 20, 2008

Hello! You turned up on my list of folks I share the most books with, and when I came over to envy your library, I saw you were discussing Samuel Richardson. In my everyday life, nobody is ever discussing Samuel Richardson. Wouldn't the world be a better place?
Anyway, just thought I'd say hello while I was here. :)

posted by velvetflamingo at 12:58 pm (EST) on Jan 17, 2008

Hi Bob

Sir Charles Grandison

Do you know of the ISBN of unabridged versions?
Hardcover if possible, but not compulsory.
If this work surpasses Clarissa then I shall certainly read it.

Cheers

Steve

posted by SD18888 at 4:27 am (EST) on Dec 30, 2007

Hi Bob

From one lover of 18th and 19th Century literature and a fan of Sir Walter Scott AND a fellow vegan, I just wanted to say 'hello'!

Cheers

Steve

posted by SD18888 at 7:47 am (EST) on Dec 28, 2007

Hi Bob,
Yes, I saw on eBay that books by Bulwer-Lytton can be quite expensive. Never mind. I'll wait a good opportunity.
Re rereading books: I'm too slow. This is my problem. I don't like to read too fast. My eyes are continually distracted by the words, their arrangment, the way the sentence is built, etc. I think I'll wait till I'm retired to reread books!
Cheers.
François

posted by Pepys at 11:12 am (EST) on Dec 3, 2007

Thanks for the kind words, Bob. What a surprise to hear we've met. Introduce yourself this spring, and I'll buy you something to sip from that bar. Also, if you'd like, send me an email with an address, and I'll send you an ARC of the next Austin Carr, Big Money, which comes out in February.

posted by jgetze at 8:55 am (EST) on Dec 2, 2007

Hello,
I saw that you exchanged opinions about Rienzi (by Bulwer-Lytton) with Osbaldistone. Have you read it finally? I couldn't decide myself to read the e-book, and await the opportunity to buy it. Was your copy difficult to find?
I too find the first sentence well-balanced... Maybe we could make a club 'Those who appreciate the first sentence of Rienzi' with you and Os? ;-)
François

posted by Pepys at 11:43 am (EST) on Nov 29, 2007

I'm a new member, BJ, just getting started. I see we're both Robert Crais fans. And two, maybe why you caught my eye, this thing also tells me you have my book, Big Numbers. Hope you don't mind me asking if you read it, what you thought, and if you have any suggestions to make the next one more appealing. If I'm overstepping, just ignor me, but criticism makes me a better storyteller, and you're someone I'd like to hear.

posted by jgetze at 10:40 am (EST) on Nov 25, 2007

RE: "Waverley Gems"

Well, I'm envious. I have not heard of this work before, but it sounds fascinating. For the most part, I have found almost without exception that if a book exists, it will show up on the internet somewhere.

First off, Waverley is often misspelled out on the used book market (as you did in your post to me), so be sure you're searching both spellings.

You probably already know to try what I'm about to suggest, but, in case there's something new, here goes: I don't know what sources you have searched for the reported earlier edition. I usually go to AddAll's used book search first. That turns up what I'm looking for 95%+ of the time. Failing that, I then do a general Google search. With that, if my search parameters are specific enough, I often find at least a blog or post and then possibly someone I can contact that can help.

The other thing is that Amazon's used book data is simply what their users have made of it, and I don't get the impression that Amazon's users are as fastidious and self-policing as LTers are. It's possible that there is no earlier edition but that someone simply entered an erroneous date, but it is equally possible that the earlier date was correctly entered by someone selling a copy on Amazon at one time.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you find two! I'm not supposed to buy any more books for at least three months (I fell off the wagon pretty badly last month), but something like what you described may be too good to pass up. I have a real soft spot for Scott's novels and major poems, as well as Scott himself. I know he was a hopeless romantic, but from what I've read from his biographers, he was a man of exceptional integrity, whose sense of duty and responsibilty I admire.

Good luck.

Os.

posted by Osbaldistone at 7:06 pm (EST) on Nov 7, 2007

Just browsing members who have books that I do as well. I hope you don't mind if I use your catalog as a sort of wish list. I am finding it dreadfully hard to pick out new authors, well to me at least, to read since I am running out of Marie Corelli's works. I am about three fourths the way through Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence and cannot see myself straying to far from the time period in future readings.

But I digress, I seem to have run aground on my own thoughts. You have an impressive catalog and I thank you for sharing it.

posted by chevydevil at 3:32 pm (EST) on Oct 17, 2007

You know, I always thought that was a good line too, but it sure takes a beating.

Os.

posted by Osbaldistone at 6:43 pm (EST) on Sep 29, 2007

Hi
Thanks for your comment. I have to apologize for that sorry excuse for a review; when I first started with bookcrossing, I just started putting in anything just to write something about the book. But now that I have librarything, I really try to write a decent review about everything I read. So I'm afraid a lot of my earlier reviews that I copied over from bookcrossing were awful and not quite reviews, actually.

But I do love LeFanu and I think I've read the Rose & the Key but just can't remember. You have to, absolutely, read Uncle Silas; I think it may be my favorite. I've also read one of his called Checkmate, which isn't as well known but is quite good. I'm going to throw Rose & the Key onto my current TBR stack so I can reread it.

Happy reading!
nancy

posted by bcquinnsmom at 1:23 pm (EST) on Sep 23, 2007

Hey there! Thanks for taking a look at my library. I decided to make that tag since I have a lot of books from series and I can't keep them all straight so I created the tag so that when I go to a book sale I can print out my list and buy the books in the series I need. Although my library keeps on growing by leaps and bounds because I'm so addicted to books that I buy other books as well! LOL I have not read the two authors you mentioned but I'm always looking for new authors to read so I'll just add them to the list as well! Hahaha. Can never have to many books now can we? I do intend to open a used book store next year if I can get the funds together. Lord knows I've got the start up inventory! I will take a look at your library as well and maybe learn about more new authors. I did look at the books we share though and you do have an impressive list of cozies there too. Are they are books you've already read or tbr's or what?
Have a nice weekend.
Jackie

posted by stevielyn at 5:05 pm (EST) on Sep 22, 2007

Thanks for reviewing my new mystery shopper book, ACCESSORY TO MURDER. I'm glad you were man enough to read it, despite the girlie cover.
But blaming your cat for the typos? I knew you were a person of fine felines, but is that fair? My cat, Harry, is sitting here lashing my keyboard with his tail, and I'm trying to type around him. But do I blame him?

posted by elaineviets at 11:40 am (EST) on Sep 22, 2007

It was nice to see my latest novel, Small Brutal Incidents, in your list! I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading. Michael Dittman

posted by dittman at 8:45 pm (EST) on Jul 30, 2007

Well, I hope the others enjoy it more than I did, but since some of them thought Pale Blue Eye was too much...well, one hopes for the best.

If you are taking suggestions and want something a bit different, have you read The Seville Communion? It's by Arturo Perez-Reverte, who is one of my favorites. It's a bout a priest who goes to solve a murder at a church that is being decommissioned. Wonderful bits of Vatican politics, an excellent murder mystery, fascinating characters, a bit of comic relief and even a bit of romance. It might really appeal to your regular crowd.

posted by LisaLynne at 9:55 am (EST) on Jul 29, 2007

I see you have or read 15 books by Louis Mulhbach. I have read 10, so you are the only member who has read more of her than I have. I did not especially like her books, but picked up a bunch of them at a Friends of the Library book sale and since I owned them I thought I should read them. I no longer have them since when we moved I had to get rid of many books. How is it you have read her books? She is might obscure nowadays, isn't she?

posted by Schmerguls at 9:09 am (EST) on May 14, 2007

Glad to meet somebody else who remembers Cleveland Public Library fondly. I lived in Bay Village and I've probably got 10 years on you (I remember seeing Bill Haley and the Comets at the Painesville auto show, rather than The Fish). But I can remember discovering the White Collection in junior high, which led to a lot of themes done on the occult that must have puzzled my high school teachers.

posted by Larxol at 2:21 pm (EST) on Apr 1, 2007

Thanks for your message. It's good to have you on the Radio 3 Group. I hope that you will contribute from time to time. Happy listening!

posted by antimuzak at 2:46 am (EST) on Feb 1, 2007

Dear Bob,

The best way I can share with you what I put on the website is to invite you to join Trollope-l. You need not join in on bookreads. It's there that new material is announced and reminders of where old material exists are repeated.

In the meantime, one central place is:

http://www.jimandellen.org/trollope/trollope.section.lead.html

Ellen

posted by ellenandjim at 1:26 pm (EST) on Dec 20, 2006

Dear Bookman

What a kind and heartening note. I'm so glad to hear you find my book useful. I have no other book of this type because after that one of the two publishers who was for such a book (Chairman of the Trollope Society, John Letts) retired and has now died.

I do have on my website records of further group reads of Trollope as well as group reads of Austen and gothic novels. If you want to read them, just let me know and I'll send you the URLs. The website is:

http://www.jimandellen.org/ellen/emhome.htm

And how refreshing is your profile. I was lucky to be able to go to college and on to graduate school. CUNY was basically for free when I was ready to go to college, and its graduate center very inexpensive.
Scholarships to England were available in those halycon days.

I, alas, have no groups to read with in my area; I do run group reads here in cyberspace still; on Trollope-l, eighteenth century books and women's books.

I have no nice set of Scott, but I do like him and have accumulated lots of books by and on him.

Cheers to you who have lightened my day,
Ellen

posted by ellenandjim at 9:32 am (EST) on Dec 16, 2006

Bob,

I haven't read it yet. I've just finished up a couple of other books (including the one for November's book group that I couldn't attend), so maybe I'll bump it up the list. My current commute book is "The Lost Painting" by Jonathan Harp, about a search for a lost Caravaggio.

~Lisa

posted by LisaLynne at 11:38 am (EST) on Dec 1, 2006

Bob, that's fantastic you've just agreed to host all those book club readings. Our group's creation really was perfect timing - I'm so glad. I've just been inspired to start a new book club in January, so I need all this good advice everyone's giving.

You know, you're welcome to post your events on our My People Connection site. We can host events all around the world now. And nothing would make me happier than promoting book clubs & encouraging more people to read and make good new friends over books. It's free - I founded the organization when I moved to Los Angeles & didn't know anyone. We host a lot of events now that go beyond book club.

-Jen

posted by mypcjen at 3:00 pm (EST) on Nov 14, 2006

Hi there Bob Burke. An aging vegan hippie, huh? Where have you been all *my* life?? Thanks for the Michael Cox recommendation - I'll give it a go and let you know.

Carolyn

posted by carolynm at 6:16 am (EST) on Nov 14, 2006

I'll be on the lookout for "Already Dead". Is it new? My library doesn't have it.

I haven't read any MJ Rose, but I've read a bunch of S J Rozan - is that close enough? I'll add him/her to my lookout list.

The Book Warehouse at Aurora Farms is going out of business - all hardcovers $2. I must have picked up 20-30 books in the last week. Oh, my aching bookshelves!

~Lisa

posted by LisaLynne at 8:24 pm (EST) on Oct 17, 2006

Hey there bjbookman!

Between your Rafael Sabatini, H. Rider Haggard, Harold Lamb, Robert B. Parker, H.P. Lovercraft, Sax Rohmer, Alexandre Dumas, Arturo Perez-Reverte, Sir Walter Scott, and Carlos Ruiz Zafon books, it's like we're living parallel reading lives....

Not that I've added them to my LibraryThing Profile yet either, but I didn't see any Steven Pressfield in your books.

I've founf his Gates of Fire and Tides of War to be a good read. And the audio books annotation, read by Sir Derek Jacobi, are really more like performance art...

Anyway, just wanted to give you a salute to your great collection.

Cheers.

mbahawk
posted by mbahawk at 11:08 pm (EST) on Sep 29, 2006

Excellent - wouldn't it make a terrific action movie? The twist at the end is one of my favorites. I'm really glad you enjoyed it.
posted by LisaLynne at 7:14 pm (EST) on Sep 29, 2006

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